Fossil fuel projects require money — and that money is coming from the world’s top private banks, including many with net-zero climate pledges. That’s according to a new report from the Rainforest Action Network, which looked at the major financial institutions funding oil and gas infrastructure since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“Banks and financial institutions need to be held accountable for their role in financing false solutions that cause serious life-threatening intensity and threats to Indigenous peoples worldwide,” said Tom B.K. Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, in a press release.
According to the report, fossil fuel companies reaped $4 trillion in profits in 2022, with 60 of the world’s top banks providing $673 billion in financing. The top fossil fuel-lending bank of 2022 was Royal Bank of Canada, or RBC, which allegedly spent over $42 billion dollars funding fossil fuel projects. These included $4.8 billion related to tar sands and $7.4 billion connected to fracking. Also in 2022, RBC released a statement in which it ... Read more
